« Mokorea » was created by Makau Foster Delcuvellerie for the 2004 Heiva i Tahiti. It is based on a legend from the atoll of Makemo in the Tuamotu archipelago.
Long ago, inhabitants would live off fishing and coconuts. On the distant islet of Vainitika in Makemo, several men worked in a coconut tree plantation. At the end of the season, the men would canoe back to the village of Te Ava to sell the product of their work. One of the men would stand guard on the islet and keep it tidy. Once left alone on the island, he hears someone crying. Very surprised he calls out but he gets no answer. He then hears the sound of footsteps and sees a shadow beginning to run in the plantation. He runs in pursuit. It's a woman. He follows her to a waterhole in the coral reef. She dives in it to never reappear…

Source : Marc E. Louvat

Makau Foster Delcuvellerie spent the first years of her life on the atoll of Hao and was brought up, as customary in those days, by her grand parents. They were very simple folks who lived like their parents, and the parents of their parents before them, to the soothing rhythm of the islands, fishing and foraging. Then she had to go to Tahiti for school and to Hawai'i for a college education.

Whenever you start a conversation with her on that period of her life, she remembers the Paumotu (inhabitants of the Tuamotu islands) whom she says taught her everything and had been living in Hawai'i for the longest time, teaching young Hawaiians the traditions of the South Pacific Islands. Their classes were hard, very demanding for these youngsters who had been brought up according to the “American way of life”. She always seems to get a bit emotional when she talks about these moments. She remembers the pain of the long warm up training sessions when yours body does the talking and tells stories. She didn't learn in the books but from the oral tradition that allowed generations to preserve the knowledge of their ancestors.

« At the age of 16 I was already dancing on stage at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawai'i. For years I travelled the world extensively to dance and finally came back to Tahiti to keep on learning from Coco Hotahota, the famous choreographer and director of the “Temaeva” dance company. Then time came for me to start teaching “Ori Tahiti” (Tahitian dancing) and to create my own dance company Tamariki Poerani  ».

Since then the company has created various productions: "Munanui" (1999), "Merehenua" (2001), "Te ariki Tuohea" (2003), "Mokorea" (2004) et "Mono'i" (2009).
Choreographies by Makau Foster Delcuvellerie have been recreated by different “Ori Tahiti” dance companies in Japan, Mexico and the USA.

Source : The company Tamariki Poerani 's website

More information

tamarikipoerani.com